A song is a poem or other set of words that are put to music and meant to be sung or rapped. It can be written by a professional songwriter or composer or adapted from a pre-existing poem set to classical music, known as an art song. A song can be sung without instrumentalists (a cappella), accompanied by an instrument such as an acoustic guitar, piano or organ, or by a large group of singers such as a choir.
The chorus is the climax of the song and typically contains the biggest ideas in the lyrics and also often includes the song’s title. The verses and pre-chorus lead up to this one big moment, so it’s important for the songwriter to make sure the chorus hits hard and is memorable.
Lyrically, a bridge is a chance to tell the story of your song in a different way. This is a great place to add a little tension or mystery to your songs. It also helps break up the repetition of the chorus and pre-chorus.
The study’s findings are consistent with a trend that other music scholars have noticed over time, James says. But this is the first time that researchers have looked at a comprehensive collection of songs and analyzed them using machine learning. The researchers surveyed an order of magnitude more songs than previous studies and looked at all genres, rather than just the most popular music. That larger sample and the use of machine learning tools allow them to detect trends more accurately than previous research.